31 kilometres and counting...

That's how far I ran this week. 7.5km on Mon. 9km on Wed. And 14.6km on Sat.

Amazing to think that I was at 3km a run and 9km a week only 4 months ago. The human body is an amazing thing. Resilient.... and yet so fragile. Lance Armstrong's story always amazes me. How a person can come back from testicular cancer, to win the Tour de France SEVEN TIMES running, is simply amazing. Guess that is a testament to the strength of the human mind as well.

Was at a National Day Dinner last night (yes, that's part of my job description now). They had some very professional entertainment on stage, including a famous singer from Taiwan. While I enjoyed some of the acts, what hit me was how much MORE some of the other guests were enjoying it. Try as I might, I couldn't completely enjoy it like some of the dialect speaking aunties and uncles at the dinner.

That's one of the things i've always been struggling with. Am I a banana? :P My family all speaks dialect and we all come from very modest backgrounds. I still recall the story of my youngest aunt eating a baby rat. Heh. But I've also gone to the US, spent 4 years there. And while I don't spend much on eating out, i do go to chi-chi (to quote Ming) with friends (like ..... Les Amis) which my family usually won't go to. That's part of the reason why I've always been interested in Asian-American culture; I identify with the same sense of duality that pervades Asian American literature and culture.

Also got to meet a charming man at the dinner. We hit it off right away even though there was a 40-50 year age difference. And guess what we connected over? Chocolate :) That's one of the things I like about this job. That it gets me out of the office and allows me to meet so many different people, both great and small. Keeps one humble.

Ajantis is dreaming of Royce White Chocolate...